Which schools in PhD Marketing would I be able to get into?

Question

I'm a psych major, and am applying to PhD programs in marketing. My undergraduate GPA was 3.5 (top-tier public school), and my master's GPA was 3.6 (top-tier private school), both in psychology. My major/psychology GPA is more like a 3.80, however. My GRE 530verbal (bad, I know), but 780 quantitative, and 6.0 (perfect) analytical. I have strong research experience including my master's thesis presented at nationwide conferences, and strong letters of recommendation.

Obviously, Chicago GSB Harvard, and the like will be really really tough. But which other ones? Again -- PhD marketing, not MBA. Thanks!

Answer 1

You can look through the list of top MBA programs. Those that have PhD programs in marketing will also be in the top. I'd advise looking at the marketing departments of the top schools to see where the faculty went. Chicago and HSB are certainly good. Other top schools that you should look at are Duke (which has a particularly good marketing program), Wharton, Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia, NYU, MIT, Michigan and Northwestern.

B-School PhD programs are much harder to get into than many other programs. For example, the top Finance programs get 250-350 applications per year and only accept 4-6 students per year. Marketing programs get fewer applications -- but still only accept a few students each year. In other words -- only 10-25% of QUALIFIED students get in.

You appear to be qualified for the top schools -- though you should try to increase your verbal GRE. Because of the difficulty of getting into ANY top school, I'd cast a wide net. I speak from experience. I know I was qualified to be at any PhD program in Finance. I applied to nine of the top 12 schools -- and only got into two (I have since taught at two of the others -- MIT and Wharton). I would also apply to one other program that you know that you should get into -- perhaps a state school with a good PhD program like Maryland, Wisconsin or Maryland

Good luck

Answer 2

Those are good credentials.
Obviously, you should apply to multiple schols at different levels, since admission is not a scientific process.
I recommend Cornell, UCLA, and NYU.
Those are good schools, but not as difficult to get in as Harvard, Chicago, Penn, or Northwestern..